this came up in that stupid thread with the silly guy that couldn't spell lying about swordmaking & stuff..

what, if anything, do you  find most effective to use to channel psychic energy? eg swords pendants stones etc. personally I have always thought it was a bit silly using  physical items for metaphysical tasks, and don't really like to depend on anything but my own power. Plus i wouldn't want to be up the creek if i suddenly needed to use my "gifts" and didnt have my magic doohickey with me. but Anaya told me about this thing with salt and it works really well, so what do i know? Mabye all the other stuff is works too. I'd be really interested to learn more about this stuff.. and would appreciate if you could tell me why it works, if you know.

[cylinder2166]

Sounds like your talking about like witch's artifacts, or at least something similar. Look stuff like that only conducts energy because whoever has it believes (and makes you believe) that it does. Most 'magical artifacts' (excluding black magic) started out as common things and were blown out of proportion. Anyways    yes, stuff like that does exist but only if you believe in it.

That makes sense. I must be honest i have not deeply read Jung's theories. I have a rough idea of them but  I thought when he referred to the collective unconscious he was referring to something that is a fixed thing that does not change with human experience. Like a baseline method of percieving existence. If, like you say, he was saying  it is something that changes with enough people adding to the melting pot, if that's what he meant that's some forward thinking stuff, and much more on the ball if you ask me.  Think i'lll go down the library and have a read.

[Levinthross]

yes jungians ideologies center around how we define our own realities... basically the unkown remains unkown because if someone was able to perceive it there perception would define it as something. but 
the reason why a witches tools are powerful is because there symbology is supposed to be known and obeyed by spirits and witches alike. Artifacts or sometimes talismans often times can be used as catalysts and condensers for such powers. but most artifacts per say have a spiritual structure within them that give them there specific effects if you can extract these properties through alchemy or mimic them through spellwork you dont need a object. you may just be able to create a servitor for such a occasion and have it standbuy as a witness or conduit for your spells.